A Cheater’s Guide to Meal Planning

The best thing that ever happened to my meal planning was THEMED NIGHTS. What’s evolved is the answer to the grocery list. I can quick shop without one – and have food to eat for a week.

But first, a bit of history…

It all began with PIZZA NIGHT.

That’s Friday for most everyone I know. Some of you make your own, with homemade crust and all. To that, I holler DiGiorno, in my best Italian accent.

And then there was TACO TUESDAY.

I know that’s a restaurant thing and we rarely go out. But I love a little alliteration, so Tuesday it was. Usually tacos turned to nachos because throwing the ingredients on top of crunchy things was easier than packing them into crunchy things.

But what really converted me was when a friend started serving sandwiches on Monday nights. Routinely she’d mention going to Trader Joe’s for sandwich ingredients.

See that picture above? I’m pretty sure that’s how her SANDWICH NIGHT table looked. I could see the dollar signs adding up at Trader Joe’s. I wasn’t sure this was for me. But, I did love a good bacon cheeseburger or a quick quesadilla (that’s Mexican sandwich, you know.)

From then on, I started noticing the things – like sandwiches – that my family really enjoyed. You know the meals you tend to get the compliments on? They aren’t that meat and three or Pinterest find you slaved over.

I still make a meat and three and a Pinterest worthy meal about once weekly.

But mostly I’ve created this little cheater weekday meal plan.

SOUP. SANDWICH. SALAD. PASTA. PIZZA.

It’s brilliant.

Why? It’s incredibly versatile.

You want to be creative and plan ahead? Go right ahead. Straight from the Pinterest boards…

I present to you my grocery list for my worst week ever. My family will still be wowed.

SOUP

2 cans of my choice

(Hint: If tomato, then buy cream to add to it; if french onion, then buy cheese croutons; if Italian wedding, then buy a chunk of real parmigiana; if clam chowder, then buy extra can of clams or other seafood.)

About Melanie Mcgehee

Melanie McGehee never knew she wanted to be a mom. Even marriage caught her somewhat by surprise, in spite of the fact that she met husband Andy through a matchmaking service. She thanked eharmony by writing about that experience for an anthology, A Cup of Comfort for Women in Love.
Almost two years to the day after marrying him, she stared at two pink lines and wonder aloud, “Is this okay?” His response, “Kind of late to be asking that now.” It was a bit late – in life. But at the advanced maternal age of 35, she delivered by surprise at 35 weeks and an emergency C-section, a healthy bay boy.
Ian, an only child like herself, is ten years old and unlike any of the children Melanie has tutored, substitute taught, or led in a variety of church activities. Together with him, Melanie has discovered Thomas, SpongeBob, youtube tech channels, Lemony Snicket, Kate DiCamillo, shirts with no tags, and tooth powder. You can follow Melanie’s personal adventures and her love of children and teaching at beingmissmelanie.